Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a Grammy Award-nominated, NME Award Winning New York City-based rock band. The band consists of lead singer Karen O, drummer Brian Chase, and guitarist Nick Zinner. In 2000 they formed a trio, and were later joined by second guitarist Imaad Wasif in 2006 for touring purposes. According to an interview that aired during the ABC network's Live from Central Park SummerStage series, the band's name was taken from modern New York City vernacular. The band has recorded two studio albums; the first, Fever to Tell, was released in 2003. The second, Show Your Bones, was released in 2006 and was voted the second best album of the year by NME magazine.
History
Yeah Yeah Yeahs' debut release was a self-titled EP, released in 2001. They followed it with another EP, Machine, in 2002.In 2003, the band released their first complete album, Fever to Tell, which received several strong critical reviews and sold more than 750,000 copies worldwide. The album's third single, "Maps", received significant airplay on alternative radio. The video for their 2004 single "Y Control" was directed by acclaimed director Spike Jonze, who was involved with the band's lead singer Karen O for a period. In October 2004, the band released their first DVD, Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow. The DVD included a concert filmed at The Fillmore in San Francisco, all of the band's music videos to date, and various interviews.
Their second album, Show Your Bones, was released on March 27/28, 2006. The album's producer, Sam "Squeak E. Clean" Spiegel – who had previously collaborated with Karen O on the song "Hello Tomorrow" for an Adidas commercial directed by Sam's brother (and Karen's then-boyfriend), Jonze – told MTV News that it was a concept album about Karen's cat, and would be titled Coco Beware. However, MTV was forced to retract the story, noting that Spiegel had failed to mention that he was joking. Karen O told online zine Drowned in Sound, "Show Your Bones is what happens when you put your finger in a light socket," crediting "9 year old antigenius wonder-kid Drake Barrett for the insight." The first single from the album, "Gold Lion", was released on March 20, 2006, reaching 18 in the Official UK Singles Chart. It has been noted by Leah Greenblatt that "Gold Lion" sounds startlingly similar to "No New Tale To Tell" from 1980s alternative favorites Love and Rockets. The band toured throughout Europe and the United States during much of 2006.
The non-album track "Sealings" was released on both the Driver: Parallel Lines, Vol. 1 Official Soundtrack and the Spiderman 3 Official Soundtrack.
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs' most recent EP, titled Is Is, was released on July 24, 2007. It includes 5 previously unreleased songs and a short film, recorded and filmed at the GlassLands Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. The songs were written in 2004, during the Fever To Tell tour, and performed live often. Three of the five tracks were featured on the "Tell Me What Rockers to Swallow" DVD. They are also going to be releasing a DVD of a performance on May 7 in New York directed by Patrick Daughters. However, the DVD of the performance is yet to be released. The iTunes store added all the performances in video form.
Karen O and Nick Zinner both appear as guests on Tiny Masters of Today's album Bang Bang Boom Cake. The song was written via email and features Karen singing.
The band became one of the first western rock acts to play China when they headlined the Modern Sky Festival in Beijing in 2007.
An acoustic version of the song "Gold Lion" is included on the Mississippi Studios Live, Vol. III compilation.
Notable Appearances
- The song "Black Tongue" was in the video game True Crime: New York City.
- The song "Maps" is featured in the video game Rock Band.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs were named Artist of the Month on Yahoo. Launch.Com for October 2004.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs made their television debut on The Late Show with David Letterman.
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs were on the cover of magazine KoreAm Journal in October 2006.
- The song "Sealings" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was in the video game Driver: Parallel Lines and is played during gameplay.
- The song "Sealings" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was also in the movie Spiderman 3 as the third track in the soundtrack album.
- "Kiss Kiss" was featured in the video game Need For Speed: ProStreet
- "Kiss Kiss" was featured on the Gossip Girl episode "The Handmaiden's Tale."
- "Rockers to Swallow" was featured on the Grey's Anatomy episode "The Heart of the Matter."
- "Gold Lion" was also featured in Grey's Anatomy, in the season 2 episode Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response.
- "Gold Lion" was also featured in the ad for "Yves Saint Laurent Elle," a perfume.